What About the Tares?
Every parable Jesus told revealed important facts
about the Kingdom of God. In His
parable of the Wheat and Tares, Jesus was so concerned about the handling of supposed evildoers that he gave this parable
as a word of warning. In this parable,
Jesus explains that when good and evil grow in the same soil, it is almost
impossible to uproot one without hurting the other.
Matthew 13:24-30 (NKJV) - Another parable He [Jesus] put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom
of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept,
his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the
grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the
servants of the owner came and said unto him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed
in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has
done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather
them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot
the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time
of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and
bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”
After telling this parable, Jesus sent the multitude
away. As he went into the house to be
alone with his disciples, they asked him to explain the meaning of the parable
of the tares.
Matthew 13:37-43 (KJV) - He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the
Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the
kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed
them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the
angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it
be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and
they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do
iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing
and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the
kingdom of their Father.
Despite Christ’s warning to let the wheat and tares
grow together until the harvest, people have taken it upon themselves to uproot
the tares. Why? God’s children become grieved when they see
true and false mingled together in the church.
They become distraught because the tares that the evil one has sown in
secret, actually resembles good wheat at first. This deception is no surprise to Jesus. It is in fact, expected. He is fully aware that Satan will try to
defeat the spread of the Kingdom of God on earth. Where Jesus sends His children, the wicked one also sends his
children.
Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV) - Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of
heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord,
Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and
perform many miracles?’ Then I will
tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
The fact that individuals are in the church,
appearing to be somewhat like Jesus’ followers, does not prove them to be
Christians. Many people have joined
churches, but have not joined Christ.
Wanting to do something to
cleanse the church of its impurities, God’s children unwisely respond like the
servants of the householder in the parable.
They are ready to wipe out the opposition.
However, Jesus says, “No”, lest while you gather up
the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.
Consistent with Christ’s warning, during the course
of trying to destroy the tares, true believers become hurt, disillusioned,
uprooted. History bears record that
those who have not heeded Christ’s warning have misrepresented God’s
character. To punish supposed evildoers, those who differed
from established doctrines have been imprisoned, tortured and even put to
death. It is the spirit of the evil
one, not the Spirit of Christ, which inspires such acts. In the process of trying to weed out
evildoers, God’s children bring suffering upon themselves; wasting precious
time fighting one another over doctrine, all in the name of Christianity. Enormous tension is created in churches at
large, but can be felt most strongly in prisons across the United States and
around the world. When inmates are the
most vulnerable, trying to deal with the ongoing tensions of incarceration,
their spiritual life can also suffer.
Right off the bat, prisoners
find themselves at a disadvantage.
They can’t attend any church of their
choice, as non-inmates can, because only a few chaplains and chapel services
are available to serve the entire prison population. The result? Inmates from
diverse backgrounds and religious beliefs are thrown together in one
facility. Individuals seeking Christian
ministry in prison are often given the cold shoulder by other Christians; not
because of who they are, but because they happen to belong to a Christian
church that has been labeled as deviant
[out of the norm]. Because of such
“labeling”, some inmates are afraid to even say the name of their church,
because of the reproach it brings on them.
At the other end of the spectrum, are those who do the labeling. Caught in a sea of doctrine and religious
controversy, some have lost the desire to participate in worship with those
whom they believe are associated with a deviant, so called apostate
church.
Just as Jesus warned, all of us are hurt by such actions,
if we take the responsibility upon ourselves to separate the tares from the
wheat. The parable makes it clear;
Jesus has not committed us with the work of judging the character of
others. He knows our nature too well to
entrust this important work to us.
Often those whom we refer to as hopeless are the very ones Jesus is
drawing to Himself. The Redeemer of the
world does not want to lose one soul.
It is a matter of life and death to Jesus. However, while it is true that Jesus is the Redeemer of the
world, we must not forget that He is also the righteous Judge of the
world. In His forbearance and tender
love for humankind, Jesus will wait until the last possible minute to send his
angels, “to gather out of his kingdom all
things that offend, and them which do iniquity” Matthew 13:41. (See also: Revelation 14:14-16)
What about the Tares? Jesus tells us to let them grow among the wheat, having all the
advantages of sun and rain, until the time of harvest. What better hope for the lost than to be
closely linked with God’s children? For
it is there, that they have a glorious opportunity to be saved into God’s
Kingdom.
Summarizing
what this parable teaches:
The Parable of the Wheat and Tares is a lesson of
patience.
James 5:7-9 (NIV) - Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer
waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the
autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's
coming is near. Don't grumble against
each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!
The Parable of the Wheat and
Tares is a lesson of reassurance.
Even though there are differences among the thousands of Christian churches over doctrinal issues, there is a harvest time coming! Praise God! Jesus does not want us wasting one precious minute worrying about who is a real Christian and who is not. Rather, it is our responsibility as children of God, to keep the sin (weeds) out of our own lives, proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, and leave the cleansing of the Kingdom to Jesus.
Questions for
personal or group study:
1. In the parable of The Wheat and Tares, Jesus said we should not dig out the tares. As Christians, how should we behave, knowing that good and evil will exist in the church until the time of harvest?
2. In our desire to purify the church, are we too
quick to classify people and their beliefs as good or bad?
3. How many different interpretations of doctrine
make a person or their church suspect of being a tare?
4. Why is it
important to our spiritual growth to trust Jesus to do the final judging
between good and evil?
I Corinthians 4:5, James 4:12